


Small Compromises

by Amethyst_Hunter



Series: 30 Kisses: The Serpent and the Jackal [2]
Category: GetBackers
Genre: Developing Relationship, Long-Term Relationship(s), M/M, Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-16
Updated: 2014-09-16
Packaged: 2018-02-17 15:14:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2314085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amethyst_Hunter/pseuds/Amethyst_Hunter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ban and Akabane expand the definition of their relationship. Flexibility and the little things in life count for a lot...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Small Compromises

**Author's Note:**

> \- Standard disclaimer: I don't own GB or profit from it. All ficcing is strictly for enjoyment.
> 
> \- Second in the 30 Kisses Serpent & Jackal series. Theme: #26 – “if only I could make you mine.” This is the fic that started it all. :)

~~

 

Ban’s desires are simple: shelter, sex and smokes. Aside from his other requirements (Ginji’s friendship, gas for his car, a huge bank account to continually drain for various expenses), these are the fundamentals that keep him going on a daily basis. He doesn’t always get them, of course, but it’s good to have goals.

Akabane’s desire is even simpler. Or at least it used to be until he met the Get Backers. Previously, if asked (and assuming the questioner survived long enough to hear the answer), he would have said his only desire was for entertainment. The basics that Ban concerns himself with – food and shelter, for instance – register as barely a blip for Akabane; they are merely formalities to be dealt with as required and this is done easily enough, for unlike ‘Ol Blue Eyes Akabane is quite good at making and managing money. It’s a fact that pisses Ban off to no end, and not just because of how Akabane gets that money in the first place.

Desires are fluid and shift seamlessly depending on the situation. 

Ban’s are still the same, though he’s added to his list recently. A place to sleep. Some nooky, if he’s in the mood for it. A good toke on a ‘cancer-cane,’ as Ginji calls them. And for Akabane to quit with the bullshit already. Just how many rematches does one have to have anyway before it’s painfully clear that one has an abundance of ass-kicking power, for God’s sake? 

Akabane still desires to be entertained, usually in the manner in which he has long since become accustomed to – but somewhere along the way things changed, and it’s not quite the priority it once was. It’s the most peculiar enigma, one that’s puzzling and frustrating and fascinating and breathtaking and –

\- it makes him feel strangely, magnificently _alive_ in a way that even the most serious of battles never could, perhaps for the first time in...who knows how long. Were he a more emotional person, he could almost hate Ban for that. Some secrets are too maddening to be tempted with.

And some truths are too priceless to let go of no matter how much grief they may bring. This is how Ban knows that, for better or worse, a jackal has come to stay with the Honky Tonk’s ever-growing family, for he cannot bring himself to condemn a wounded hunter when he himself has been down that same route. Mercy’s tender kiss is what saved him from the final blow; he can do no less to honor his precious guardian than to extend that same mercy to a kindred spirit...with the hope that someday, perhaps, it might be accepted as the gift it is meant to be. 

So they’ve compromised. Akabane will handle their accommodations and take care of whatever expenses Midou-kun incurs, up to and (especially) including ones that are vehicle-related. He will also do his best to stay the knife-play inasmuch as this is possible for him; Akabane’s self-control isn’t quite the paragon most people think it is, particularly when the fever in his blood begins a siren song he is compelled to follow. In return, Ban will, nicotine fits aside, keep the indoor smoking to a minimum, and occasionally give Jackal what he wants, what he craves – in reasonable amounts, of course. It’s all about the moderation.

True, these are small compromises in the greater scheme of things. But everyone has to start somewhere...

 

~~


End file.
